Watson Gives Her Speech As U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador
U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson (L) gives her speech during an activity to promote political shares at the Uruguayan Senate and Congress chambers at the Parliament building in Montevideo, September 17, 2014. ReutersS/Andres Stapff

Hollywood star Emma Watson did not seem intimidated by the threat of having her nude photos leaked online by hackers.

Watson was apparently threatened by the same hackers who had earlier stolen private photos of noted Hollywood celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and posted those online. The threat against Watson was posted on a uniquely named website which featured the logo of 4chan. The website has a countdown timer which apparently shows the time when Watson's leaked images will be posted online. However, the website apparently uses cookies to track individual time clock of a computer and sets the countdown to whenever it will be 12 am on Sept 24 for specific users. The Star reported that the website was registered on Sunday through an anonymous forwarding service.

The Harry Potter actress posted on Twitter on Tuesday that a change in laws as well as mentalities would be required to establish "common sense." She did not post anything which might have reflected her reaction on the threat. Instead, she promoted the "HeForShe" campaign she had earlier launched at the United Nations to unite women and men for gender equality. Watson also delivered a "powerful" speech at the United Nations on gender equality. Shortly after the speech, she was threatened that her nude photos would be leaked online.

The Guardian reported that 4Chan users also tried to spread fake news of Watson's death on Twitter. The UK website says that the threat of leaking nude images may not be true as the hackers have not used the strategy of informing in advance about an upcoming leak. One anonymous user posted on 4chan that, if there was a possible leak, there would only be nudes - no threats. The threat may also be a "mischief" as most of the users commented that they believed it to be a prank.

Watson earlier voiced her opinion against the nude photo leak of Hollywood celebrities. She condemned the violation of women's privacy on social media but found it "worse" that people who had commented on such leaks lacked "empathy." Several users admired her opinion as one of them commented: "And this is why you are respected & admired, Emma." While some blamed it on the lack of security on the Apple iCloud, one user defended it. "The world's governments are not 100% secure. You expect that little iCloud to be 100%?" the user said.

It is only a matter of time to know if the threat of Watson's leaked photos is real or just a prank. However, she is apparently paying no attention to it at the moment.

Even worse than seeing women's privacy violated on social media is reading the accompanying comments that show such a lack of empathy.

— Emma Watson (@EmWatson) September 1, 2014

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au